Please compare
Warning: This blog post deals with sexual assault.
John F. Berger wanted to “have sex” with 100 women. Unable to find any women who would “have sex” with him, he began drugging and raping women. He was apparently close to his goal of raping 100 women when he drugged and raped Tressa Gross.
Unlike the previous dozens of women, the dose of GHB he gave Gross was fatal. It’s not clear if she was clinically dead before or after he raped her, and he wouldn’t really have noticed, but the drugs he gave her killed her.
On Friday, Berger was sentenced to five years in prison, with the option of parole after four.
For drugging, raping, and mudering a woman. Nearly the hundredth he raped.
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On August 18th, 2006, a group of black lesbians were approached by a man named Dwayne Buckle, who threatened to one of them he would “fuck [her] straight,” spat on the women, and threw a lit cigarette at them. The women also allegedly spat at him, and verbally threatened him. A fight ensued, which was joined by two other male bystanders, and Buckle was allegedly stabbed by Patreese Johnson, one of the women, who testified she was trying to get him off one of her friends whom he was choking. Buckle was hospitalized for stomach and liver wounds. He was in a position to make jokes about the situation as of the 19th.
To my knowledge, Buckle was not charged. But four of the women involved were convicted of and sentenced to prison terms of three and a half years, five years, eight years, and for Patreese Johnson eleven years in prison.
For stabbing someone non-fatally in arguably self defense.
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Rape and muder, part of a pattern of serial rape = 5 years
Stabbing someone in a two-way skirmish, arguably in self defense = 11 years
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Not only is there sexism, racism, and homophobia evident in the distribution of justice, the media coverage is full of misogynist bias. Articles in the popular proess continually use the phrase “having sex” for what is clearly “rape”. Journalists commonly use the phrase “making advances” or “saying hi” to describe what should be called “verbal and physical assault, spitting, throwing a cigarette and threatening rape”.
The more I read, the more I am disheartened at the extent to which our justice system, a reflection of our society, is deeply, deeply corrupted.
Not to belittle your point, but the article says that Berger plead guilty. The women in Buckle took their case to trial. Prosecutors naturally seek higher penalties at trial than they do in a plea bargain because they want to disincentivize trials. Trials are expensive!
Moreover, have a look at the list of cities in America with the highest crime rates: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate
…St. Louis is pretty far ahead of New York (like, number 2). Prosecutors and judges are probably working overtime just to keep the docket moving.
To me, the discrepancy in these cases points to the fact that St. Louis needs a new District Attorney (only seeking 5 years is pathetic), and probably a raft of new criminal judges… …only 5 years for those crimes is pathetic: http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C500-599/5660000030.HTM
(Missouri statute – not the divergence between statute and reality).
Jonas… not belittling at all… I didn’t really consider the guilty plea. You make some good points, but in the end, we’re all responsible for outcomes. And if there’s injustice in the outcomes, we know there’s a problem. It’s important to look for reasons in order to change the outcomes, but the reasons don’t change the fact that it’s a racist, homophobic, classist, sexist system.